Pyrotechnics company fails in its appeal for Mayo storage facility

A PYROTECHNICS company which provided firework displays for Taylor Swift concerts has failed in its efforts to locate a storage facility in a rural area of north Mayo.

Rocket Pyrotechnics Ltd based in Avoca, Co Wicklow had applied for planning permission to install a 40 foot metal shipping container underground for the safe and secure storage of pyrotechnics in a field in Rathoma, Killala.

The site is located 5.5km southwest of Killala and 10 km northwest of Ballina and is accessed from the local road by an agricultural track. The application was refused by Mayo County Council with planners stating that there was insufficient justification for the proposed development to be at this rural location.

The decision was appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála on the grounds that the storage of explosives requires a setback of over 200 metres to the nearest dwelling/roadway and therefore the proposal must be sited in a rural area.

Rocket Pyrotechnics Ltd has operated for 25 years and its company director Gary Breen is a native to the Killala area and his parents' house is approximately 250 metres from the site. The company specialises in fireworks displays and has worked on large scale events including the Rose of Tralee, Galway Arts Festival, Taylor Swift concerts, Leinster rugby matches as well as weddings and corporate events.

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The polytechnics proposed to be stored at the location in Rathoma are defined as Hazard Type 1 Explosives and require a licence by the local authority for storage.

The appeal stated that Rocket Pyrotechnics Ltd employs up to 18 'highly skilled employees' and without a storage facility, the company will be unable to purchase supplies wholesale at 'competitive rates'.

This will force the company to secure supplies from Northern Ireland on the day of an event and transport them directly to the location and this would be 'an unsustainable practice that jeopardises the business's competitiveness and future'.

In the appeal, the appellant cited enterprises such as solar and wind which are developments that are not rural but due to their nature they must be located within a rural area. They claimed the same principle applies to this development.

However, in his report to An Coimisiún Pleanála, which is the new name for An Bord Pleanála, Ian Campbell, Senior Planning Inspector found this was a moot argument and the principle was not the same.

“Aside from the need to be located a specific distance from certain receptors, the proposed development does not have a need to be located in a rural area, and is not reliant on any specific rural based resource.

“In my opinion extractive industries, solar and wind developments are not comparable with the storage of pyrotechnics.

“To draw comparisons to a storage facility for pyrotechnics as needing to be located within a rural area on the basis of meeting licensing requirements cannot be sustained in my view,” he stated.

Mr Campbell recommended refusal on the basis the lack of a sufficient justification for the proposed pyrotechnics storage facility at this location would represent haphazard sporadic development in a rural area.

The Commission of An Coimisiún Pleanála accepted the recommendations of the Inspector and refused planning permission for the development.